American programmer, STEM advocate and cosplayer Amie DD is coming to Hybrid World Adelaide in July!

Over a series of workshops, participants will create objects they can take home, as well as contribute to a ‘Space Junk Punk’ costume Amie will wear. People will get to have a look at the cosplay creation for the first time at Hybrid World Adelaide before making its way to future-focused museum MOD. The outfit will contain moving parts, electronics, 3D printed objects, craft foam, resin, thermoplastics and more.

And a cosplay creation is just one of the reasons we’re excited for Amie to be at Hybrid World Adelaide. Here are five more.

She started her career at Marvel

Early in her career, Amie landed a gig working on video games at Marvel Studios. “I worked on Thor, Captain America and X-Men,” she says.

“I saw a lot of cool things. And our studios were actually on a movie lot in California, so I was around all of that – in fake New York City, they were filming Thor! In programming, you get to create all these awesome worlds. And all these awesome games.”

After being at Marvel, she moved on to Research and Development for two big names: Xbox and Playstation.

She’s a programmer

Amie says her work in programming has changed the way she looks at the world – and particularly, the respect she has for the inventions of others.

“Even with the process of looking at a pen, you realise somebody had to design that, use a CAD program, print it, make a mould, make a plastic, figure out how to make the clicker work… and then make it a product,” she says.

“I guess you just look at things completely differently.”

She created a STEM scholarship for girls

In collaboration with the National Videogame Museum in Dallas, Amie created an annual scholarship for girls that want to pursue careers in gaming or technology-based fields.

“When I went to school, I told my dad I want to make video games. And his response was something like, ‘ok, what’s the plan for after, when you get a real job?’ It was still a new thing,” Amie says.

“I just want to be able to give somebody else that chance… if they want to do something in science or technology, and either they can’t afford it – or maybe their parents don’t quite understand – if they can make something or get a chance to pay for even one semester, or books – hopefully that can influence them. That was my path, too.”

She founded a robotics, AR and video game company

Amie is a co-founder ATAT Tech, a company that makes virtual video games. Their latest project? An augmented reality video game code-named “Project EvE”.

She’s always making something

“It wasn’t ‘til I used a 3D printer to make my own sword, that I realised this is a whole new world that has just opened up,” says Amie.“Manufacturing and plastics – that’s been around for a long time – but the affordability for home use for 3D printers and similar is where it really took off. And now it’s turned into this entire collection. Being able to print something and figure out how to solve a problem is a good feeling.”